Scheduled for Pedagogy II and Special Populations Posters, Friday, April 12, 2002, 2:00 PM - 3:45 PM, San Diego Convention Center: Exhibit Hall


An Analysis of the Undergraduate Physical Education Teacher Certification Requirements Within Institutions Which Offer a Doctoral Degree in Physical Education

Carl P. Bahneman and John C. McGrath, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

A curriculum model is a general pattern for creating or shaping program designs for educational settings; the model incorporates a conceptual framework and should be consistant with the theory upon which the framework is based. Physical Educators study curriculum theories in order to clarify educational philosophies and develop new prospectives.The nature and quality of future physical education programs will depend largely on the insights and commitments of professionals for future curricular decision making. The purpose of this study was to analyze the undergraduate PETE certification program requirements within institutions which offer a doctoral degree in physical education to determine the critical curricular elements, differences and similarities among a specific group of institutions.Twenty nine(29) of the forty seven(47) eligible institutions participated in this study. Complete sets of curricular materials were received and analyzed by two individuals independent of the researchers. Course requirements,credit hour requirements and program objective philosophies were examined. The data are presented under three major headings:1)General Institution Requirements,2)Professional Education Requirements Outside the Physical Education Unit,and 3)Physical Education Major Requirements. This Physical Education Major Requirement heading is further delineated under the following five sub-headings:1)Professional Foundations,2)Scientific Foundations,3)Activities,4)Curriculum Instruction,and 5)Practica. All data are presented with regard to specific course category, the number of institutions which require a specific course in a particular category,the range of credit hours required and the means for required credit hours.It was interesting to note that very few institutions had a specific Oral Communication and/or Computer Science requirement. The responding institutions view the following course categories as critical program elements:(1)Introduction to P.E.,(2)Sport Behavior,(3)Organization and Administration,and(4)Principles of Coaching. However,only 8 of the 29 responding institutions required a course in officiating.It is interesting to note that only 19 of the responding institutions required a practica experience with the public school aged children prior to student teaching.It was of considerable interest and concern to note that one third of the respondents indicated that their students had no contact with public school aged children prior to students teaching.
Keyword(s): professional preparation

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